by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of Kansas clarified the framework to be used for determining whether a confession was voluntary and expressly overruled prior precedents that had held that “reliability of the confession” was a factor to be considered.
When G.O. was 16 years old, his younger stepsister ...
by Douglas Ankney
Anthropology professor Dawnie Steadman, Director of the Forensic Anthropology Center at the University of Tennessee (“University”), and her colleagues “hypothesized that drugs found in decomposing bodies could have an influence on the behaviors of decomposers and result in differential rates of decomposition.” At the University’s Body ...
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit vacated the convictions of Dr. Joel Smithers because the instructions failed to inform the jury that the mens rea of “knowingly or intentionally” of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) applied to that statute’s “except as authorized” provision.
Smithers ...
by Douglas Ankney
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania’s denial of absolute immunity to a prosecutor where the complaint alleged facts sufficient to support a finding that the prosecutor’s acts served an investigatory function.
Larry ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of Delaware ruled that a warrant authorizing a search and seizure of “any and all” data of named files of a cellphone was an invalid “general warrant,” and the warrant was also invalid because it did not include a temporal limitation.
Andrea Casillas-Ceja’s ...
by Douglas Ankney
In a case of first impression, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court affirmed a trial court’s exclusion of expert testimony regarding an iPhone’s frequent location history data (“FLH”) evidence.
Victor Arrington was charged with first degree murder and other offenses related to the home invasion and killing ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) has an impressive cache of surveillance technology that includes, inter alia, automated license plate readers (“ALPR”) and cell-site simulators (“CSS”). The latest tracking and surveillance revelation is that DHS and other law enforcement agencies have been using TraffiCatch since 2019. ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Court of Appeal of California, Fourth Appellate District, held that “if a defendant provides statistical evidence showing a racial disparity in the charging of non-minority defendants and African-American defendants, and provides evidence of non-minority defendants who engage in similar conduct and are similarly situated but ...
by Douglas Ankney
Australian researchers at Flinders University have employed a promising new technique to collect and record forensic DNA evidence from crime scenes. A new study appearing in Electrophoresis focused on the DNA retrieved from air conditioning (“AC”) units that circulate a room’s air, including different types of ...
by Douglas Ankney
The Supreme Court of Indiana clarified the framework for determining when a court may apply a cash bail toward payment of public-defender costs and toward payment of fines, costs, and fees.
Tailar L. Spells was arrested on charges related to her altercation with Officer Lynnford Parker ...
